Bill Bryson's first travel book for fifteen years – a brand new journey around Britain.
In 1995, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his home. The hilarious book he wrote about that journey, Notes From A Small Island, became one of the most loved books of recent decades, and was voted in a BBC poll as the book that best represents Britain.
Now, in this hotly anticipated new travel book, his first in fifteen years and sure to be greeted as the funniest book of the decade, Bryson sets out on a brand-new journey, on a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis on the south coast to Cape Wrath on the northernmost tip of Scotland.
Once again, he will guide us through all that's best and worst about Britain today – while doing that incredibly rare thing of making us laugh out loud in public.
John Purcell's Review
Bill Bryson is now old and grumpy. And it makes for great reading.
Twenty years ago Bill Bryson published Notes from a Small Island, his travel book on Great Britain, which has since become a travel classic. Anticipating the sales potential of the coming anniversary, Bryson's publisher urged him to revisit Great Britain to give readers an update on the state of that great nation. Reluctantly, Bryson set out.
What Bryson found did not please him. Which is great, because The Road to Little Dribbling may be his funniest book yet.
I read Little Dibbling on a long haul flight. I read it from cover to cover stifling my guffaws the best I could. I must have been very annoying. But Bryson ambushes you with his humour. You don't see it coming. He's dangerous to read in public.
What is really refreshing is having someone as rational and moderate as Bill Bryson recognise just how stupid the world has become. His cited examples of human stupidity are damning. And hilarious.
Bill Bryson comes across as such a decent fellow, gentle and nice, a bit of an idiot sometimes, but honest and true and not too difficult to please, and we, as a species, have managed to disappoint him. It's like making Santa cry. Shame, humanity, shame.
But with disappointment comes grumpiness, and with grumpiness comes hilarity.
If you've loved Bill Bryson's other books, you'll love Bill the Grump. If you haven't read him, what a treat awaits you!
Industry Reviews
"Warm, funny, thoughtful, sometimes grumpy. An absolute joy.
+ in Country Life:
I snorted with laughter...The Road to Little Dribbling is consistently and unendingly fabulous...I intend on buying a copy for everyone I know." * Clare Balding *
"Fans should expect to chuckle, snort, snigger, grunt, laugh out loud and shake with recognition...a clotted cream and homemade jam scone of a treat." * Sunday Times *
"Is it the funniest travel book I've read all year? Of course it is." * Daily Telegraph *
"There were moments when I snorted out loud with laughter while reading this book in public...He can be as gloriously silly as ever." * The Times *
"Bryson has no equal. He combines the charm and humour of Michael Palin with the cantankerousness of Victor Meldrew and the result is a benign intolerance that makes for a gloriously funny read." * Daily Express *
